Apparently, talk of who I’d run into at the store had put her in a sour mood. She wasn’t a real big fan of Harley, not before she and Rhett got together and certainly not now. With Harley now back in Brooklet, with no real ties holding her here, AJ believed her soul purpose was to weave herself back into Rhett’s life.
She was a little territorial of her man, it seemed.
“So,” I leaned in closer, careful to ensure that AJ didn’t hear me when I spoke again, “does she really believe that Harley is trying to win you back? Even after you now have a son with another woman?”
Rhett looked over my shoulder, as if he was checking to see if AJ had heard me. Then slowly and very stiffly, he gave me a firm nod. “Yep.” I didn’t miss the way he grinned from ear to ear. The guy loved it, the attention he got from AJ. But now, instead of taking the opportunity to make fun of him, I could honestly say that I knew exactly how he felt. Maddison had tried to hide her jealous behavior, but after her night at the bar, the one she had her catfight with Raven, it was a feeling I knew well.
I loved her taking on the territorial shit with me. It meant we’d finally reached the point where hiding what we felt toward one another was no longer an option. I knew our family was the biggest obstacle we had to face, and the rest would now just fall into place. I’d be damned sure it did, because reaching the point we had now took a lot of frustration, confusion, and even heartache. Those were all things I didn’t want us to have to ever face again. If I had things my way, we wouldn’t.
“You smile more now.” I refocused to find Rhett staring at me with a shit-eating grin. “Who knew all it’d take is for Maddison and you to get your heads out of your asses and admit that the two of you have been in love with one another since childhood?”
I didn’t know about all that. I mean, could a child really know that a crush was love? I thought it was a crush that became infatuation and, over the years, slowly and teasingly might I add, turned into a crippling love that I never wanted to lose.
“Feels good to smile,” I confessed, wearing my own silly-ass lost in the clouds kinda smile. “Feels damn good.”
I laughed, feeling crazy for my overflow of happiness. It was long coming and something I thought I’d not truly found since I’d been home until now. Of course I was happy to be home, surrounded by my family and friends, but there had been something looming over my head every single day since. Now I knew what it was, or who it was, I should say.
“Speaking of happy and this feeling good,” I finally wiped the goofy smile from my face, “have you decided when you’re gonna pop the question?”
“I’ve got the ring. Hell, I’ve had it for months, but I’m just waiting for the right time.”
“I don’t have to tell you again about wasting time.” I looked back over my shoulder toward AJ, who was now up and moving around their small kitchen.
“Do you wanna know what I find interesting?”
“What's that?” I asked as I turned my attention back to him.
“You’ve used that line on me twice, yet you wasted a shit ton with Maddison.” He said exactly what I had thought to myself more than half a dozen times. “You should have gone after her right when you got back.”
“The timing wasn’t right.” Rhett didn’t argue, just lounged back in his chair and propped his feet up. “I think we both had to come to terms with what was going on between us before we could ever move forward. There was so much confusion, embarrassment maybe, and fear of what people may think as well as how it would change who we thought we were to one another.”
“And now?”
“Now there’s no going back. We’re doing this.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maddison
“It’s still so hard to believe you are eighteen.” I still remembered when Grace was born, how I’d spend the afternoons with Aunt Kori helping her. Or so I thought I was helping. She always made me feel so. She’d let me fasten the hair bows into Grace’s hair or allow me to put on her socks.
Tiny Face was almost like my little baby doll. While all my friends were playing with the plastic ones, I had a real live, giggling, pooping, spitting-up little bundle of crazy. And it didn’t stop there. Grace had always been one to grab other’s attention, even when she wasn’t trying for it. She just had that spark, that natural beauty. The girl was a knock out, but she had no idea.
“Are there any guys I should know about?”
“Nope.” The way she said this piqued my curiosity, and when I lifted my head to look over at Chloe, who sunbathed just on the other side of her, I knew she’d noticed it too.
“What’s his name?”
“There is no he.” When Grace looked behind her toward the space where all the guys sat, I followed her gaze and went over the faces one by one.
Garrett, Mike…I stopped there for a few seconds and took in his handsomeness. He was sitting on the tailgate of his truck, alongside his friends, and it wasn’t just because he was mine that he stood out; it was just a given. The guy carried himself so much differently than those around him. His shoulders squared—and
